SAN ANTONIO – Suspension records obtained earlier this week by KSAT 12 News revealed multiple suspensions for SAPD officers in April.
Among the suspensions were three officers who were disciplined after misconduct that took place in separate, unrelated off-duty incidents.
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The officers were involved in fights and a road rage incident late last year. None of them have been charged with any criminal conduct.
Officer Sonny Kretzer
On Oct. 31, 2021, Officer Sonny Kretzer was involved in a “mutual combat” incident that was handled by Bexar County sheriff’s deputies, according to his suspension record. He was suspended for 15 days.
Kretzer was investigating a suspicious vehicle in his neighborhood that appeared to be involved in a collision.
Despite being asked to leave, Kretzer continued to question a female passenger in the car before things got physical between the off-duty officer and the male driver.
Witnesses told police Kretzer removed his handgun from his holster and handed it to his father as the altercation turned physical. Kretzer said he did so because the holster did not have a locking mechanism.
“Officer Kretzer did not use sound judgement when he forfeited his weapon during an escalating confrontation involving a male who could have potentially been armed, placing himself and citizens on scene in danger,” according to his suspension record.
Kretzer identified himself to the couple as a police officer, but refused to give them his badge number when asked. He was also caught on cellphone camera cussing at the couple, telling them, “you’re in my f—ing neighborhood, get the f—k out of here.”
The incident was investigated by BCSO, but no one was arrested in connection with the case.
Kretzer served his suspension from April 25 until May 9, records show.
Officer Joe Pena, Jr.
Police Officer Joe Pena Jr. was suspended for four days after his involvement in a bar fight on Nov. 5, 2021 in Corpus Christi.
That night, Corpus Christi police officers were called to a bar in the 5700 block of South Alameda Street. They found Pena and his cousin nearby, according to the suspension records.
“Those guys over there f—ed us up,” Pena told officers, referring to bouncers at the bar.
A bouncer told officers that Pena threw a bottle at him after they told him and his cousin they couldn’t leave the bar with beer bottles. The bouncer admitted to fighting Pena, but told police he did not know Pena was an off-duty SAPD officer.
Officers on the scene believed Pena was visibly drunk, according to the suspension records.
“Your fly is down sir, you’re intoxicated, you’re bleeding,” an officer told Pena at one point, according to the records.
The handling officer told her colleagues she “didn’t want to arrest a police officer for public intoxication,” the records show.
A Corpus Christi police spokesperson said Wednesday that no one wanted to press charges in the incident and cameras did not capture the incident. They forwarded the incident to TABC for further investigation.
Pena served his suspension from April 27 until April 30, records show.
Officer Jose Vallejo-Martinez
On Oct. 20, 2021, off-duty Officer Josue Vallejo-Martinez was driving his personal vehicle in the carpool lane on Highway 281 North when he said an occupant in the vehicle next to him “rolled down his window and struck the passenger side mirror with his fist, causing mirror damage.”
Vallejo-Martinez followed the driver for roughly eight miles, according to the suspension records, and ordered the driver out of the vehicle at a stoplight in Bulverde.
“Vallejo-Martinez failed to use sound judgement when he engaged in a traffic stop while off duty, in plain clothes, and in his personal vehicle outside the city limits to identify the person who damaged his property in a road rage incident,” the document states.
The officer was also cited for misrepresenting that he had someone in his vehicle with him as justification to use the carpool lane, though he was the only occupant in his car.
Vallejo-Martinez was suspended for three days, according to the suspension records.
The suspension was served between April 19 and April 21.